10-10-2006, 05:02 AM
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 43
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Winter advice
I am not new to the can be harsh Iowa winters. However I am new to driving
my BMW IN them. I just bought Dunlop WinterSport M3's all the way around to
help with Traction/steering. However what else do I need to do to prepare my
car for the winter driving months? Also my car has to sit out side in the
elements.  I thought I heard somewhere that it was not good to let the car
"sit and warm up" before driving when its cold, its best to just get in and
go. Is that true?
--
Thank you,
~~~
Branden Nelsen
1999 BMW 528i E39
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10-10-2006, 06:15 AM
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 464
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Winter advice
Branden Nelsen wrote:
Quote:
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I am not new to the can be harsh Iowa winters. However I am new to driving my BMW IN them. I just bought Dunlop WinterSport M3's all the way around to help with Traction/steering. However what else do I need to do to prepare my car for the winter driving months?
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Nothing more as far as traction and driving. I suppose that you should
make sure that your cooling system and battery maintenance are up to
date, and make sure that the oil you are running in the engine is the
proper grade for the expected temperatures
Quote:
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Also my car has to sit out side in the elements. I thought I heard somewhere that it was not good to let the car "sit and warm up" before driving when its cold, its best to just get in and go. Is that true?
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Well, there are as many opinions out there as there are options. The
BMW engineers recommend that the car be started, allowed to idle very
briefly (like 15 or 20 seconds) and then go ahead and drive off, but
most importantly, take it easy (no hard acceleration) until the oil in
the engine has fully warmed up. That will be considerably longer than
it takes for the coolant to come up to temperature. I've never seen any
dissenting opinion about that last point. It is the high load on the
engine that you want to avoid while it is cold. You can still go on the
highway, just take your time getting up to speed.
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-Fred W
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10-10-2006, 06:19 AM
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 83
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Winter advice
"Branden Nelsen" <brandenn@netins.net> wrote
Quote:
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I am not new to the can be harsh Iowa winters. However I am new to drivingmy BMW IN them. I just bought Dunlop WinterSport M3's all the way around tohelp with Traction/steering. However what else do I need to do to preparemy car for the winter driving months? Also my car has to sit out side inthe elements.
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Get your car well waxed before the winter. Use a car wash during
the winter that does "underbody" cleaning - I wash my car at least
once a month, and as needed after being in the slush. Make sure
your washer fluid is winter strength. Go out in the first snow and
play around with the car's handling (in a parking lot or other safe
venue). Make sure you know how to handle skids, braking
with the ABS (and how to modulate the brake pedal to keep
out of the ABS.)
Quote:
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...I thought I heard somewhere that it was not good to let the car "sit and warm up" before driving when its cold, its best to just get in and go. Is that true?
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Yes. Just remember not to honk on it - drive off slowly and let all the
car's mechanicals (engine, transmission, differential, suspension, etc.)
warm up before hitting the redline.
FloydR
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10-10-2006, 06:51 AM
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 88
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Winter advice
On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 10:15:42 -0400, Fred W
<Malt_Hound@*spam-me-not*yahoo.com> waffled on about something:
Quote:
Branden Nelsen wrote:
Quote:
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I am not new to the can be harsh Iowa winters. However I am new to driving my BMW IN them. I just bought Dunlop WinterSport M3's all the way around to help with Traction/steering. However what else do I need to do to prepare my car for the winter driving months?
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Nothing more as far as traction and driving. I suppose that you shouldmake sure that your cooling system and battery maintenance are up todate, and make sure that the oil you are running in the engine is theproper grade for the expected temperatures
Quote:
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Also my car has to sit out side in the elements. I thought I heard somewhere that it was not good to let the car "sit and warm up" before driving when its cold, its best to just get in and go. Is that true?
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Well, there are as many opinions out there as there are options. TheBMW engineers recommend that the car be started, allowed to idle verybriefly (like 15 or 20 seconds) and then go ahead and drive off, butmost importantly, take it easy (no hard acceleration) until the oil inthe engine has fully warmed up. That will be considerably longer thanit takes for the coolant to come up to temperature. I've never seen anydissenting opinion about that last point. It is the high load on theengine that you want to avoid while it is cold. You can still go on thehighway, just take your time getting up to speed.
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The main problem I find is I have to leave mine to warm up for a bit,
otherwise I can't see out of the window!
Dodgy.
--
MUSHROOMS ARE THE OPIATE OF THE MOOSES
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10-10-2006, 07:45 AM
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 43
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Winter advice
Excellent! Thanks for the advice.
I don't really floor it or stomp the gas unless I HAVE too, and ive never
had the car near red line ever. Ill double check the coolant as well as when
I have my next oil change (soon) make sure its winter strength. I wash my
car every other week as it is, so in winter I might go every week!  Would
it be beneficial to get one of those Oil pan heaters you plug in at night,
I've seen them but never actually used one, to know if they are worth it.
Sorry for all the questions, i just dont want anything major damaged due to
something i could have prevented as my car has about 192000 miles on the
Engine and Drivetrain.
-Branden
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10-10-2006, 08:03 AM
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 762
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Winter advice
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10-10-2006, 08:10 AM
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 83
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Winter advice
"John Burns" <john@unixnerd.demon.co.uk> wrote
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The main problem I find is I have to leave mine to warm up for a bit, otherwise I can't see out of the window! Take a 2 litre coke bottle and fill it with warm water. Running that over the windows is the quickest way to clear them and won't cause scratching :-)
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Yikes, John. I've seen that cause temperature-induced cracking
due to expansion/contraction. Of course, never having tried it on
my BMWs I've never seen it on them... the case I saw was 30
years ago on an American car.
FloydR
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10-10-2006, 08:14 AM
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 83
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Winter advice
"Branden Nelsen" <brandenn@netins.net> wrote
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I don't really floor it or stomp the gas unless I HAVE too, and ive never had the car near red line ever.
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:-<
Quote:
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... Would it be beneficial to get one of those Oil pan heaters you plug in at night, I've seen them but never actually used one, to know if they are worth it.
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They're not too useful unless the temperature is consistently far below
zero - say -25F. Modern synthetic oils (especially the low-viscosity
5W-30 you probably have in your engine) flow well at all the temps
you are likely to encounter in Iowa.
FloydR
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10-10-2006, 02:54 PM
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 464
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Winter advice
Floyd Rogers wrote:
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although the 2nd article on battery grounds points out that we haven't mentioned battery maintenance to Brandon, yet.
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Ummm... I did.
--
-Fred W
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10-10-2006, 07:55 PM
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 83
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Winter advice
"Fred W" <Malt_Hound@*spam-me-not*yahoo.com> wrote
Quote:
Floyd Rogers wrote:
Quote:
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although the 2nd article on battery grounds points out that we haven't mentioned battery maintenance to Brandon, yet.
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Ummm... I did.
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Sorry, Fred.
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